Research Interests

Since 1991, Zvi Lerman’s research has focused on land reform and farm restructuring in transition economies in former socialist countries in Europe and Central Asia. He has written extensively on transition in agriculture and regularly acts as a consultant to FAO, the World Bank, USAID, and UNDP on land reform, agricultural policies, and development of agricultural cooperatives in CIS.

• Land reform and farm restructuring in transition economies
• Farming structures
• Productivity and efficiency of different farm types
• Land policies
• Land fragmentation and consolidation
• Agricultural land markets Rural family incomes
• Rural development
• Development and performance of agricultural cooperatives
• Agricultural finance
• Comparative economic systems

Research Activities, Surveys, and Consulting Projects in the Former Soviet Union and East Central Europe

• Agricultural sector review work for the World Bank: Russia, Ukraine, Moldova, Belarus, Georgia, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Hungary, Poland, Slovakia, Romania (1991-2010)
• Farm restructuring in Nizhnii Novgorod Province, Russia (IFC, USAID, and UK Know-How Fund, 1992-1994)
• Land reform and farm restructuring surveys in the former Soviet Union (Russia, Ukraine, 1992-1994)
• Land reform and farm transformation surveys in Eastern and Central European countries (1993)
• Survey of the performance of reorganized farm enterprises and private farms in Ukraine (1995-1996)
• Survey of household farms and farmers’ associations in Romania (1996-1997)
• Land reform and farm restructuring surveys in Georgia and Armenia (1996-1998)
• Survey of large private farms in Georgia (1998)
• Land reform and farm restructuring survey in Moldova (1997)
• Land reform and the emergence of leasehold farming in Turkmenistan (1997-1998)
• Survey and comparative analysis of different farm restructuring modes in Ukraine (1998)
• Survey and overview of farm restructuring initiatives in Belarus (1999-2000)
• Farm Debt in CIS: A Cross-Country Analysis (1999-2000)
• Study of land markets and land tenure for Polish households (2000)
• Emergence of new farming structures in Moldova (2000-2001)
• Land and water policies in Turkmenistan (2000-2003)
• Agriculture on the eve of EU accession: Slovak Republic (2002), Romania (2003)
• Agrarian reforms and factor markets in Russia (2001-2004)
• Ukraine after 2000: impact of 1999-2000 policy reforms on farm performance and rural incomes (2004-2006)
• Impact of land market development and land leasing on agricultural productivity in Moldova (2005)
• Tajikistan: farm survey to study the economic impacts of land reform (2006-2008)
• Azerbaijan: review of agricultural policies (2006-2007)
• Russia: non-agricultural employment of rural population - survey-based study (2006-2007)
• Uzbekistan: farm and livestock reforms (2007-2008)
• Cotton farm debt in Tajikistan: lessons from CIS and Israel (2009)
• Kyrgyzstan: national priorities framework for agriculture (2009)
• Turkmenistan: agricultural sector review (2009-2010)
• Land and farm reform in former Yugoslavia (2009-2010)
• Kazakhstan: Effects of agrarian reform (2010)
• Tajikistan: Land Code amendment in response to rural welfare concerns (2010)
• Tajikistan: Analysis of the 2009 baseline survey of cotton farms participating in the Cotton Sector Recovery Project (CSRP) (2010-2011)
• Georgia: adapting agricultural statistics to policy and food security analysis (2010-2011)
• Agrarian reform and rural transition in Central Asia: Strategies, outcomes, policy lessons (2010-2012)
• Tajikistan: Sustainable land management and resilience to climate change – legal and policy framework (World Bank, 2011)
• Kyrgyzstan: survey of peasant farms and service cooperatives to assess needs and prospects for the development of agricultural service cooperatives (FAO/REU, 2011-2012)
• Georgia: advisor for agricultural policy research, training and outreach (UNDP/ISET, 2011-2012)
• Tajikistan: agricultural reform agenda and issues in the development of agricultural service cooperatives (FAO/REU, 2012)
• Tajikistan: Rural Investment Constraints Assessment (RICA) for rural households and enterprises – survey analysis (World Bank, 2012)
• Ukraine: Expected social, economic, and ecological outcomes of lifting the moratorium on land sales – survey analysis (FAO/REU, 2012-2013)
• Water management in Central Asia: Agricultural structure and farm performance (World Bank, 2013)
• Food security – prospects of the farming sector and rural development across the Eurasian plane: Wheat production potential in the Belarus, Uzbek and Turkmen Republics (European Commission, Institute for Prospective and Technological Studies, 2013-2016)
• Moldova: Social assistance design – agricultural income component (World Bank and Ministry of Labor, Social Protection and Family of the Republic of Moldova, 2014-2015)